Free Republic

Los Angeles mayoral candidate Rick Caruso insisted he's not white, but really Italian — and thus "Latin" — during an awkward debate moment Tuesday in the nation's second-largest city. In bringing up the ongoing scandal, Telemundo anchor Dunia Elvir stated: “The next mayor of Los Angeles will be either an African-American woman or a white man." “I’m Italian,” Caruso interjected. Elvir responded, “Italian American," as Caruso insisted that his racial identification be stated on his terms. “That’s Latin, thank you,” Caruso said.

LOS ANGELES, California — The Los Angeles Times reports that billionaire real estate developer Rick Caruso is now losing the race for mayor to Rep. Karen Bass (D-CA) because of the Supreme Court’s June decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. The Times reports that while political momentum favored Caruso’s challenge in the spring, he lost in the June primary because of Bass’s support from the party machine, and political changes — including abortion — have boosted her prospects since then:

Left-wing pop star Katy Perry’s pro-abortion rant on Independence Day backfired as the Joe Biden backer was called out by fans for her support of what they called an “anti-abortion” mayoral candidate in billionaire developer Rick Caruso. On the Fourth of July, Perry reacted to the U.S. Supreme Court recently overruling Roe v. Wade by bizarrely claiming that a sparkler has more rights than women in the United States. “‘Baby you’re a firework’ is a 10 but women in the US have fewer rights than an actual sparkler [shaking my head],” the singer wrote, referring to her 2010 song “Firework.”...

Rapper Snoop Dogg has broken with the Democratic Party establishment and endorsed billionaire businessman Rick Caruso for Los Angeles mayor in the June 7 race on Tuesday. Alex Michaelson of local Fox affiliate KTTV-11 reported:

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is dispatching his newly appointed chief of staff to woo wealthy Republican donors for his reelection effort, injecting his most influential policy advisor into the job of collecting money for his campaign. (snip) Campaign finance experts and legislative Democrats questioned why Kennedy — the lead negotiator on major decisions in the Schwarzenegger administration — would be allowed to attend private meetings with donors when many have business before the administration. Paul S. Ryan, associate legal counsel at the Campaign Legal Center in Washington, D.C., said allowing donors access to Kennedy creates "the appearance of corruption in California....